About The VPA

Purpose: The VPA meets annually each fall, usually in October or November. Each meeting includes submitted presentations (with commentators) from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. Each meeting also includes a brief business meeting and two invited talks, one of which takes place at the end of the Friday night meal. The meeting concludes with the humorously wrought but seriously intended "Resolution of Thanks" to the host institution.

The VPA charges no dues or registration fees for the meeting and the host institution graciously provides an evening meal.

• • All faculty or graduate students in philosophy at a Virginia college or university (or those with equivalent competence and interest in philosophy) are invited to submit papers to the conference, participate in the conference, and vote on officers.

  • Philosophers from other states are also welcome to submit papers to the conference and participate in the conference.

  • All philosophy undergrads, other undergrads, and community members are welcome to participate.

History: The prime mover for the organization of the VPA was Professor Albert G.A. Balz, Head of the Corcoran School of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. He first suggested the idea of an annual meeting of the philosophers of Virginia and was aided by Professor Majorie S. Harris of Randolph-Macon Woman's College and Dean James W. Miller of The College of William and Mary in arranging the first meeting under the sponsorship of the Philosophy Club at the University of Virginia on November 25, 1939. In each of the subsequent years, a committee was set up to handle the arrangements the following year. The group did not meet for several years during World War II.

VPA Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

The Virginia Philosophical Association (VPA) seeks to do all it can to make philosophy an inclusive discipline. We understand the value that diversity brings to philosophical inquiry, and that the health of our profession depends on greater inclusion of underrepresented groups in the ranks of philosophers. As a state-wide philosophical organization, we play an important role in cultivating a diverse philosophical community. Our goal is to support and promote a diverse philosophical community in the state of Virginia through our institutional organization, membership, and conference programming.

In order to realize this goal, we resolve to:

• • reject as unethical all forms of discrimination based on race, color, religion, political convictions, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, or age, in ALL philosophical activities in which VPA members characteristically participate.

  • strive to create an institution and conference that illustrates that a diverse group of people have contributed in the past, and should contribute in the future, to the richness of philosophy

  • encourage a full range of participants with diverse backgrounds in the membership and leadership hierarchy of the VPA

  • create an atmosphere where the diverse members of the VPA are safe to pursue the full rigors, challenges, and complexities of philosophical research

  • continuously strive toward an environment of greater inclusion and respect through critical self-examination, paying due attention not only to overt forms of prejudice or exclusion but also to its subtler manifestations

  • open ourselves to listen to criticism and feedback in the pursuit of promoting inclusion, equity, and diversity, within and without the VPA

(Sections of this Statement on Diversity and Inclusion are adapted from the American Philosophical Association’s (APA) Non-Discrimination Statement and the APA Diversity Statement for Philosophy Graduate Programs)